1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water purifying cartridge for an empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle, wherein the water purifying cartridge is attached to an inside of the empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle of a polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle container which was originally on sale, but which has had the contents thereof consumed, and which has had tap water or the like put into the inside of the polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle so that the water purifying cartridge enables the removal of bleaching powder, oxidation and reduction, ion exchange, and similar of the tap water put into the empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle.
2. Discussion of Background
Conventionally, a water purifying cartridge of this kind has been proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 77026/1199 (hereinafter xe2x80x9cJP""026xe2x80x9d) in which an invention entitled xe2x80x9cWater Storing Type Water Purifier Used By Attaching To Bottle Containerxe2x80x9d was disclosed.
FIG. 6 is an outline view of mounting a water storing type water purifier, as disclosed in JP ""026, onto a bottle container, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a cap portion 102 of the water storing type water purifier shown in FIG. 6.
In FIGS. 6 and 7, numeral 101 designates a neck portion of the water purifier, numeral 102 designates the cap portion, numeral 103 designates a water inlet thereof, numeral 104 designates a connecting portion thereof, numeral 105 designates an adsorbing and filtering material portion, numeral 107 designates a cap of a bottle container, numeral 108 designates the bottle container, and numeral 109 designates a spout of the bottle container 108 which is omitted in FIG. 6. A fitting portion of the cap portion 102 is formed with a thread portion 106 and a fitting portion of the cap 107 of the bottle container 108 is pivotally attached to the thread portion 106 at an upper outer portion of the bottle container 108. At inside of the bottle container 108, a fitting portion is arranged so as to be screwed to fit to the spout 109 of the bottle container 108 via a spout seal 110 which is brought into close contact with the spout 109 of the bottle container 108.
The water storing type water purifier, as disclosed in JP ""026 which is mentioned above and which is used by attaching a bottle container to the water purifier, has a problem as follows. The water purifier has a constitution which is constructed so that a front end of the neck portion 101 of the water purifier is screwed to fit to the cap 107, inherently provided to the bottle container 108, and a middle portion thereof is screwed to fit to the spout 109 of the bottle container 108 and therefore, the constitution is weak in strength. Further, a gap is formed in the screw structure into which the spout 109 of the bottle container 108 is inserted. This causes the concern of attaching dirt to the portion and generating fur or mold to the dirt which is problematic in view of hygiene.
Further, the bottle container 108 and the water purifier are constituted to fixedly attach to each other such that the water purifier is screwed to fit to the thread portion of the spout 109 of the bottle container 108 and therefore, there is a problem that the structure becomes complicated, fabrication thereof is difficult and an increase in the cost is unavoidable. Further, according to the polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle container 108 of recent times, in view of hygiene, or in view of a danger of mixing a dangerous matter, as shown by FIG. 8, the cap 107, before unsealing, is frequently formed integrally with a seat member 111 that is formed at a lower portion of the screw structure or thread portion 106 of the spout 109. When the conventional water purifier of this kind is intended to be attached to the polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle container 108 of this type, the water purifier cannot be attached thereto unless the seat member 111 is cut by a nipper, a pinch device, a scissors, or similar and there is a problem that the water purifier cannot simply be attached to empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottles which are generally on sale and distributed in a large number.
The present invention has been devised in order to resolve the above-described problem and according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a water purifying cartridge for an empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle comprising a flange member having a diameter substantially the same as an outer shape of a spout of an empty bottle, the flange member having a thickness portion screwed to fit, in a water-tight manner, to an inner portion of a screw cap, when the screw cap, inherently provided to the empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle, is fitted to a thread portion of the empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle. The water purifying cartridge also including a water charging and discharging mouth portion opened to a substantially central portion of the flange member, a hollow neck portion inserted to an inside of the spout of the polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle successive to the flange member, the hollow neck portion having projected portions in a shape of a cross or a shape of a line brought into close contact with an inner diameter of the spout by a predetermined length, a filter portion arranged right under the neck portion, an extractable and contractable adjusting portion filled with one or two kinds or more of water purifying agents successive to the filter portion, a cylindrical portion filled with one or two kinds or more of water purifying agents successive to the adjusting portion, and a water purifying portion which is filled with one or two kinds or more of water purifying agents and which has an outer periphery provided with meshes or clearances for passing water therethrough.
Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the water purifying cartridge for an empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the water purifying cartridge for the empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle is attached thereto by providing a packing member which is fitted, in a water-tight manner, to an inner diameter portion of the spout of the empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle substantially in the same shape and an inner portion of which is fitted with a main body of the water purifying cartridge to the spout of the empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle.
Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the water purifying cartridge for an empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the adjusting portion, the cylindrical portion and the water purifying portion are respectively removable and the water purifying agents filled to inner portions thereof are formed exchangeably.
Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the water purifying cartridge for an empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein a lower portion of the water purifying portion is formed by a removable lid structure for exchanging the water purifying agents.
Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the water purifying cartridge for an empty polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the adjusting portion filled with the water purifying agents, the cylindrical portion filled with the water purifying agents and the water purifying portion an outer periphery of which is provided with the meshes or the clearances for passing water therethrough, are constituted exchangeably in a state respectively filled with the water purifying agents.